Student loans are being given to those ‘without a single A-level’ even though they are unlikely to be able to pass their degrees, a top university boss has warned.
Adam Tickell, vice chancellor of Birmingham University, questioned whether it was worth the taxpayer ‘investing’ in such low-achieving students to enter higher education.
He called on ministers to ask these ‘difficult questions’ as they look at how to overhaul the student loans system, which is saddling a whole generation with mounting debts.
He said the system is facing an ‘existential challenge’ and is ‘just not working’.
His comments, made at the British Academy Shape conference, come amid growing unease at the enormous debts graduates are accruing – especially those who took out Plan 2 loans.
Keir Starmer is expected to U-turn on a decision to freeze until 2030 the salary threshold at which these graduates start repaying their loans at £28,470.
Student loans are being given to those ‘without a single A-level’ even though they are unlikely to be able to pass their degrees, a top university boss has warned
Adam Tickell (pictured), vice chancellor of Birmingham University, questioned whether it was worth the taxpayer ‘investing’ in such low-achieving students to enter higher education
Many young workers are now saying the interest – charged at RPI plus up to 3 per cent – is mounting up faster than they can repay the loans.
Labour has also said it will overhaul the student loans system more generally in the coming years, to make it ‘fairer’.
Mr Tickell said a rethink was needed because ‘we have a system where more state money goes in, students are more indebted and universities are on the brink of failure.’
In comments reported by Times Higher Education, he said: ‘In terms of the taxpayer, the provider and the student, the system just isn’t working.
‘I don’t think tweaking the margins will really address things.’
One key consideration of any review should include the academic level at which students are entitled to draw on student loans, he said.
Birmingham, which is an elite Russell Group university, typically has high entry requirements – but some other institutions are accepting students with much lower prior attainment, he said.
‘[The sector] is getting students without a single A-level or equivalent getting access to the student loan book,’ he said.
‘The problem with that is investment in students is investment in human capital…and we’re investing so much money in people who…we are not really capable of graduating.’
He added: ‘Now is the time to ask, what does the public want from universities? How do we want to fund it? How many people do we want to go to university? And I think those are really difficult questions, because as providers, it’s hard enough already.’
He also hit out against moves by lower-ranking universities to boost their coffers by recruiting large numbers of graduate students from abroad, who pay much higher fees than home students.
He said allowing ‘universities without any research intensity’ to grow their research master’s’ programmes was a ‘massive mistake’.
‘It very seriously undermines [the sector’s] legitimacy with the Home Office,’ he added.
Under the current system, universities can choose to accept students even if their GCSE and A-level performance is very poor.
Critics have long argued these youngsters are unlikely to attain well at degree level, and may struggle to find work afterwards.
Graduates repay debt only when they have surpassed a salary threshold, and anything unpaid after 30 to 40 years is wiped – with the taxpayer picking up the tab.
A Government spokesman said: ‘We inherited the student loans system, which was devised by the previous Government, but there are clear eligibility rules for applicants.
‘While universities are independent from government and responsible for their own admissions decisions, it is essential that quality is maintained and that the students they admit are likely to succeed.
‘We are committed to taking robust action against organisations that misuse public money and damage the reputation of our world-class universities, which is why we are taking forward proposals to strengthen oversight on university franchising arrangements to protect students and safeguard taxpayer’s money.’